


can't stop the reels from turning

by ehhhhhhbye (onlyembersleft)



Series: Foxes Mate For Life [1]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Eventual Smut, F/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Other, Rutting, little bit o' angst, slight AU, this is so self indulgent and i have no shame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-18
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-18 02:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2331473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyembersleft/pseuds/ehhhhhhbye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>That's beta behavior, it must be. An omega could never do that with their Alpha, that's not how it works, that's not the order of things, no no no.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>But wouldn't it be nice?</i></p><p> </p><p>or, a Game Grumps fic set in omegaverse. i'm sorry/you're welcome</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. The author gets no profit from this and in no way is affiliated with the people who are characterized in this story. The only characters the author has rights to in this story are the original characters she created.
> 
> i fell in love with an overgrown man child and got inspired to write fanfiction. c'est la vie.
> 
> i have one request- DO NOT, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR IN YOUR LIFE, SEND A LINK OF MY WRITING TO ANYONE MENTIONED IN THE STORY. i'm BEYOND very serious about that statement. this isn't for them, it's for me and for whatever audience this manages to attract.
> 
> story should be updated once a week, and i apologize in advance for when that schedule doesn't work because i suck lmao. also any grammatical, spelling, accuracy, and general errors are all my fault, seeing as this is unbeta'd. okay, i hope you enjoy!
> 
> title credit: Friendly Fires, "Blue Cassette"

Suzy was halfway through cleaning the bathtub when she heard her phone ping one time. Twice is for text messages- once is for emails. She waited until she finished her task before getting off the floor and grabbing her phone from the sink, unlocking the device, and reading the message.

It was a response from the poster of a Craigslist ad selling some Lolita-esque clothing she desired- a real laced-up corset, some black Mary Jane heels, an assortment of thigh high stockings, and other various items. The poster said that they'd gladly bring the clothing somewhere that was comfortable for both of them, and Suzy smiled. Before she even glanced down at the bottom to see the seller's name, she felt a wave of trust come over her- she would invite the person to her front door (it also didn't hurt that she'd make sure that Arin would be at the house during the exchange, safe is better than sorry).

She sent back a reply suggesting a time, date, phone number and her address. The poster answered back quickly with confirmation and their name again- Jillian F. Suzy signed off with "See you soon, Jillian :) - Suzy B." and placed her phone back on the counter as she returned to cleaning the bathroom. So many Grumps came in and out of the house and it felt like she may as well be a zookeeper.

\-----

Jill took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell with a shaky finger. It wasn't often that she willingly went blindly to strangers' homes, and certainly not alone. Her neighbor and best friend Hanna couldn't accompany her on account of her having to be at work, but she was going to call Jill in a half hour to assure her safety and "bring vengeance to your beautiful spirit if I have to, goddammit." Hanna was number one for a reason.

Behind the big door, Jill suddenly heard voices, faint at first and increasing as they got nearer. It sounded like a male and a female bickering over something, and Jill thought she distinctly caught the phrase "who's still a cannibal anymore, honestly."

She didn't get a chance to ponder on it before the large white door swung open to reveal two people standing side by side- a short woman with mostly black hair and a slightly older gentleman with brunet hair and the beginnings of a beard. Both were sporting a blonde streak in their locks, and smiling faces that were painfully familiar to Jill, but she couldn't place them.

Maybe that's just how betas were- common enough to mistake them for one another.

"See?" the woman said as she nudged her shoulder into her companion's arm- he was considerably taller than her, and he wasn't even that far above average (that's a beta thing too- not that many exceeded _averages_ and what's deemed _standard_ and were just all-around _normalnormalnormal_ ). "I told you I wasn't inviting a creepy dude to the door. Look at her!"

Jill tried to smile back, but a nervous grimace graced her lips instead. She was way more of a threat to herself than she could ever be to someone else, but it did feel foolish to assume Suzy wouldn't be cautious too.

"I dunno, babe," the man said, nodding towards the tote in Jill's hand, "it's always the small and quiet ones that show up with a bag full of torture devices." He was still smiling though, easy and relaxed, so Jill's smile became more natural.

"Well come on in, we don't bite," Suzy greeted with a step back to invite Jill into the brightly lit foyer, poking an elbow into the man's side when he muttered _without your consent, anyways._ "It's nice to meet you, Jillian. Do you just go by Jill or anything?"

"Yeah, everyone calls me Jill," she responded timidly as she followed the pair down a ornately decorated hallway, nose twitching as different scents were picked up. She quickly determined that Suzy had the sweetest smell to her- sugar and cinnamon and a little buttercream, a human cupcake. Next to his wife, Arin was a bit stronger, all nutmeg and pine needles with an undercurrent of mint. It was no surprise to Jill a married couple complimented each other in several ways. Something garlicky was being cooked wherever the kitchen was, and there was a warm and artificial flower aroma that told her there was probably a candle or something of that nature nearby.

There was a hint of something else too- powerful and all-too inviting, more of a phantom presence than an actual smell. It rushed in and tried to nestle itself tauntingly in her nostrils, but Jill instead started breathing through her mouth. She knew what it was- what it meant for her- and she wasn't going to be affected by a stranger who wasn't even _there._

"Well, Jill," Arin said as they entered a spacious and nicely furnished kitchen, and the garlic nestled itself deeper in her nostrils, "You've already made acquaintance with my beautiful wife, Suzy." Suzy stepped on the other side of a large island and have a small wave before she went to stir whatever was on the stove. "And I'm Arin."

Jill's eyes squinted as she tilted her head to the side, confused. She was positive she knew that those names went with those faces. "Um... do we- uh, have we met before?"

Suzy and Arin looked at Jill blankly, then simultaneously turned their faces towards each other to exchange glances. With the way they silently communicated with expressions- barely-there movements of jaw muscles, almost comical raising and lowering of eyebrows- Jill could imagine herself mistaking the pair for being Bonded instead of simply married betas.

"I... can't confidently say that we have?" Suzy said, apologetic and slightly puzzled with a shrug of one shoulder. "We've met a lot of people, so if it was in passing or at an event or something, I'm sorry, it's not intentional."

Arin pulled out a stool at the island for Jill to sit, and after she placed the bag on the table and accepted the spot with a nod, he sat too. "Yeah, please don't take it personally," he added on, looking a bit like he wanted to feel guilty but wasn't positive what for, "And it's not like you're even- you know, a beta, and that's something to recall but..."

Jill huffed indignantly under her breath, but kept her faced school with indifference. She really had no right to be upset that he thought her sex should be such a remarkable feature that would make her stand out so greatly in a sea of faces. Besides, wouldn't it be incredibly hypocritical, considering how much she'd already applied their traits to their own status?

Still... it'd be nice if just once- _fucking once_ \- Jill could walk into a room and not have people immediately think they know so much about her just because of factors she couldn't help, of how her frame and features looked, of how her body functioned against her will, of how she was created and shaped and taught to understand that she was made primarily for taking a kn-

Suzy must've caught on to Jill's underlying discomfort, because she took the wooden spoon in her hand and swiftly smacked her husband in the upper arm, eliciting a gasp of pain from Arin. Jill tried hard not to grin. "Obviously there's much more to her than how she's supposed to mate, don't you think?" Suzy asked a little too softly to pretend she wasn't scolding him, but Arin looked remorseful anyways and nodded.

_That's beta behavior, it must be. An omega could never do that with their Alpha, that's not how it works, that's not the order of things, no no no._

_But wouldn't it be nice?_

Suzy sighed and looked at Jill with an air of exasperation. "I think what my better half was trying to say is that you have a particular look about you. I'm so sure I'd recognize you- you're very pretty, Jill."

Jill looked at the granite of the island, reaching up to thread her fingers through her short, mostly sandy brown hair. Ever since she got it cut into a bob and the ends were bleached, she couldn't help playing with it occasionally. It was a style she had done on a whim and she really didn't need to be drawing more attention to herself, but it all felt so right at the time. And hey, it'll grow back soon enough. "Thanks. So are you, Suzy," she spoke, trying to sound like it didn't matter, "It's not a big deal, though- it happens all the time, it's pretty silly to be offended by that."

Suzy frowned momentarily and was about to respond when Arin jumped in, seemingly for a chance of redemption. "Yeah, well, frequency doesn't make something okay. I'm an actual idiot, and don't forget to take a grain of salt with everything I say."

Suzy had turned back to the food again, but the smirk was evident in her voice when she threw in, "You'll be very dehydrated if you manage a whole conversation with him, I'm afraid."

A titter of laughter escaped Jill, lilting and unexpected- she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth and pretending not to see Arin smile brightly. She decided she liked him and Suzy after all.

But where did she know them from?

"Do you want me to start pulling the clothes out now?" Jill asked, internally cursing at herself for the force of habit. She didn't always mean to ask for permission for little things like that, but it was so deep down ingrained in her and just doing stuff in the presence of others without them already agreeing to it.... it felt wrong. Rebellious, insubordinate, and wrong.

(She still gets yelled at by Hanna almost daily about it. "Jillian fuckin' Foust, just open the goddamn box. You do not need my approval to eat fucking Apple Jacks.")

Her precaution seemed fruitful this time, however, as Suzy shook her head, long hair swishing back and forth as she put a lid on the pot and turned the heat to simmer. "Um, I'm thinking it's a bad idea in here, with all the smells in the air," she pondered, facing the other two again as she wiped her hands on the apron hanging from a nearby hook. "Trying to look cute is hard enough- smelling like spaghetti bolognese at the same time doesn't really help."

"Speak for yourself," Arin scoffed, "I'm the cutest person you know, and I always smell like spaghetti."

Suzy looked like she had a retort ready, but one glance at a highly amused Jill, and both women started laughing, unwilling to take Arin's pride down a notch.

"C'mon," Suzy nodded back towards the hall, Arin and Jill following her as she lead them to a room not ladened with food odors. However, along the way there were more underlying people smells, faded and old but still detectable to someone like her.

(Away from the cooking meal, the scent from earlier was nagging at her again, not asking for her attention but **demanding** it. It was wafting from a room on the other side of the kitchen, closer to the back of the house, and there was a brief moment where Jill almost considered going in that direction, if only to peek her head in and just... take a deep breath and get it over with. Instead, she just grew more annoyed but chose to ignore it again by searching out other smells, a radio scanning for a new frequency.)

In the hall was the scent of another beta, oats and barley and a little stale coffee. It was so mellow that Jill wouldn't mind sitting in the same room as this person, especially when her head was buzzing and she needed a little neutrality. Or, at least if whoever this was had a personality that match their vibe.

They passed a dining room and there was a blended whiff of crisp melon and melting snow in the archway, and it tugged a bit to tell Jill it was a Bond. A Bonded couple came often to visit this home, or at least one of the pair did with the weight of their significant other in their bones.

A pang of uncertainty dropped in Jill's stomach, a curious stone carrying that obnoxious scent from earlier and asking once again _are you sure you still don't want that?_ before it was dissolved and Jill didn't have to think about it again for a while.

"This should be fine," Suzy announced and Jill realized they were walking into a cozy living room, and that they weren't exactly alone either.

"Kitties!" Jill exclaimed, her sight fixated on the two cats lying side by side in a recliner seat, both of whom were now staring wide-eyed at this new and noisy person.

"That's Mochi and Mimi," Arin clarified by pointing to each cat respectively when he said their names. At the sound of their owner's voice, both felines crawled out of the chair and slinked their way towards Arin and Suzy to weave between their legs and meow for attention. "They're Norwegian munchkins, if you couldn't tell by their comically short legs."

Jill could barely contain her excitement- the image of adult animals that were still very tiny was almost always guaranteed to make her exceedingly happy. (All teacup dogs are Forever Puppies, and no one was convincing her otherwise.) Even now her teeth were digging into her bottom lip as she fought the desire to squeal in delight, because now the little cats were now curiously approaching her and sniffing at her and oh god if she didn't get to touch them she was gonna **explode.**

"Is it cool if I-" she started to ask but her voice had taken on a higher pitch due to her internal struggle and she had to stop to recalibrate lest she royally embarrass herself. She coughed once and tried again, this time less manically. "Um, can I pet them? Please?"

"You don't gotta ask to pet those attention whores," Arin shrugged as his guest kneeled down, reaching out for Jill's tote to hand to Suzy- cat hair was a bitch to get out of most fabrics. "In fact, the only reason I'd ever say no is if I wanted to save someone from the hell of being personal back scratchers whenever they come over."

Jill clearly heard him, but she was already too far gone rubbing Mimi behind the ears and running her hand over Mochi's silky back. Both were purring and Jill's heart was swelling astronomically. If this was Hell, she was in the VIP section.

Suzy's own ecstatic exclamation pulled Jill out of her reverie.

(Thank goodness it did- she herself was also purring. It was subconscious and on a frequency betas couldn't detect audibly, but the thought that she had lost herself that much was enough to bring a blush to her cheeks.)

"Jill! These are so much cuter in person!" Suzy was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, a shiny onyx Mary Jane heel clutched in each hand. Her eyes were squinted and her cheeks must've ached from the way she was grinning. "Oh my goodness, you're amazing! These are just what I've been looking for!"

Jill couldn't help her own wide smile, and looking over at Arin who had commandeered the cats' seat, the feeling was mutual. Jill knew how that went- it was the way she felt watching her little step brothers tear open their Christmas presents and how their faces lit up when they got the game they'd been (not so subtly) hinting at for months. Or when her mother would show off a dress she'd mended so well it looked better than new. There wasn't really a name for this sort of elated empathy but it doesn't really need one, right?

"Those are your style indeed, babe," Arin commented on the shoes, and Suzy looked like she was going to ecstatically piss herself. She sat down on the couch and started rummaging through the bag, barely noticing that Jill had abandoned the cats (for now...) in favor of sitting on the other side of the tote.

"Where did you get these?" Suzy asked in awe as she pulled out a pair of black garters. Neither woman paid attention to Arin's jaw hanging open at the sight of the lacy material.

"Um, mainly from my mom's boutique," Jill said, idle hands playing with the hem of her shirt, "She lives in Louisiana and randomly sends me clothes. A lot of it ends up in my bestie's wardrobe, I don't need it all."

"Your mom is so cool for that," Suzy complimented as she unfolded the matching garter belt. Arin let out a wheeze.

Jill laughed at Suzy's words. "She can be, but she's also a schemer. I'm much more of a casual person, so imagine my surprise when all this showed up in my care package. I think she's trying to 'help' me attract a mate right now, and that explains... this." She extracted the baby blue corset and handed it to Suzy. Arin fell out of the seat. The girls still didn't react.

Suzy frowned a little. "You don't need anything to help with that, you know," she sounded like she was insulted on Jill's behalf, "You're, like, super beautiful. Inside and out. And I kinda love you already?"

Jill was a bit gobsmacked, so she grimace-grinned again and nodded without a word. The silence would've edged on longer if it weren't for Arin's strangled yell from the floor, "PLEASE PAY HER FOR THOSE PRECIOUS SEXY TREASURES ALREADY."

"Oops, thanks babe, you're right." Suzy shot Jill an apologetic look and mouthed _be right back_ before hopping off the couch and ran off in search of her wallet. Jill started to pick absently at her nails while she waited, and would've continued to do so if it weren't for her phone vibrating. She pulled it out of the pocket of her jeans and read the message from Hanna.

_callin u in less than 5 mins r u safe_

It hadn't even felt like a whole half hour had passed, but the time on her device confirmed it. Jill felt a little downtrodden as she typed an _Ok_ and slid the phone back in her front pocket. The original game plan was to use Hanna's call as an escape route- she'd say the call was important and marked some sort of emergency so she could with a "valid" excuse to go.

But now? Jill wasn't sure if she wanted to leave so soon. Suzy and Arin made her feel very comfortable, and their modest yet spacious home was very lovely. Plus they had cats. What could possibly make Jill want to cut their time together short?

"Oh shoot," Suzy said with exasperation as she came back and stopped in the doorway, "I totally forgot to hit up the ATM and I have no cash on me."

"AW!" Arin whined, now righted back correctly in the recliner.

Jill stood to be in front of Suzy, and shrugged. "Things happen. What do you want to do?"

Suzy seemed to really contemplate an answer before replying doubtfully, "Um, well... I guess I could send Arin to go do a withdrawal, since I'm like cooking? Plus we have some of our friends coming over for dinner and someone's gotta be here to let them in..."

Cold dread washed over Jill when she realized there **was** in fact something that could push her out the door, and it tickled annoyingly at her nose. She tried not to look as panicked at she felt.

"Or!" Suzy changed her mind, more pleased with a new option. "Why don't you just stay for dinner too, Jill? You can meet everyone, they'll absolutely love you."

The words slid easily out of Suzy's mouth and slinked down Jill's spine like villainous ice cubes. People like Suzy and Arin and that oats and coffee beta could throw out words like _love_ without repercussions, without overthinking the implications.

Betas were the ones who needed love, who abided by it and made it into a sort of function in their lives. Jill coveted their ability to be dependent on their hearts more than their bodies, their thoughts more than their instincts. What did it mean for love to be an active force in one's life and not just a back burner emotion that doesn't help constitute what a Bond already does?

Jill kind of wanted to vomit.

"Jill?" Suzy asked, face screwed up in concern as it turned out Jill's lack of response lead to an uncomfortable silence. The sandy haired girl now felt awkward beyond belief and started spouting a half-assed rejection.

"You know I'd really like to," Jill lied smoothly, talking quickly and with her hands as she started treading towards the front door, "Like badly. But unfortunately I have to go check on my friend soon. In fact I'm expecting her phone call in a little bit and I already feel soooo bad for not rescheduling with you and having to leave her alone for a while." Jill paused to give the female beta a false sad look, complete with wide puppy eyes and a pushed out bottom lip.

She gave Suzy a moment to take in that expression before she barreled on. "But it is what it is and I liked meeting you and your husband. And Mochi and Mimi. You know what? Better idea- I'm leaving the bag here and entrusting you with it. How about I come over again in a few days? Call me when you go get some money and I'll be back to pick up the payment, say around..." _Not in the evenings, apparently._ "Noonish? Sometime in the morning or early afternoon?"

Suzy was now pouting and confused, but she pulled open the front door for Jill nonetheless, and the other woman sighed internally with relief. "Um, but uh... Yea, I guess that's, uh, fine? I mean... Are you sure you don't wanna have dinner first? Did we do something wrong or-"

Jill shook her head, mainly so she could see a little clearer past all the guilt clouding her vision. "No, Suzy, you've been a gracious host, and you're a wonderful person," Jill admitted honestly, "I just have some important things to go do."

As if on cue her phone began buzzing. Jill pulled it out and pointed to it as if proving her point.

Still, she smiled at Suzy, and Suzy's wider responding grin filled Jill with a touch of warmth her buzzing bones needed. If it weren't for that obnoxious, unsettling, _tempting_ aroma curling around her and trying to cling to her the way it clung to this house, she'd really reconsider staying.

But she still had to answer Hanna's call, and it had already rang three times. So she said bye to her hostess and said one a little louder for Arin and the cats to hear. And with that she turned away from the door, the home, and all the smells it held within its walls.

Jill took a few steps forward and right as she pressed the green button to pick up the call, Suzy called to her, "Hey Jill?"

Jill whipped around to face the beta once more. She held the phone against her ear momentarily without saying a word, even though her best friend was repeatedly saying _Hello? Hello?! Jill, are you there?_

Suzy's smile was still warm, but it was more of a smirk now, and a knowing one at that. "For the record, I was serious about what I said earlier. And I want you to know that you're probably too cool for a mate anyways."

Another twinkling laugh bubbled out of Jill, and she told Hanna to briefly hold on before holding the phone away from her mouth before throwing back, "Oh really? And what makes you think that?"

Jill swore a spark was dancing in Suzy's blue eyes as she said, "Because no Alpha in the world is gonna be able to keep up with an omega like you."

Jill's smile only grew. Yeah, she really liked Suzy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feedback is nice :) also if anyone seems or starts to seem too OOC for comfort please let me know, i'm rather new to Grump mannerisms


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once a week, three weeks later... that's the same amount of time, right?
> 
> sorry about the delay, y'all. i am pathetic and sorry. at first i was on a roll, then i hit this lagging period, and then suddenly came a marathon where i just couldn't **stop** writing. also the ending may feel a tad rushed. basically this is kind of the first chapter of a two-parter because the beginning of the next chapter is what almost ended up in this one. just sorta figured it'd look extremely uneven to have a 4k+ word installment be followed by a 7k+ word installment. so good news- chapter three is well under way (no promises of when it'll be done and posted, though- not up for being a liar AGAIN)! this one is a bit of exposition but the next one will toss us right into the action _if ya know what i'm saying WINK WINK_ *
> 
> thanks for the kudos and comments (and a bookmark, i do believe)! i love you guys and i love life and it's currently 2 am i will probably regret this note in the morning ALRIGHT I'M DONE
> 
> *there is hardly a wrong time for innuendo

Jill's frown only grew. Yeah, she really didn't like Hanna. At least not in that moment.

It had been a few days since Jill's abrupt departure from Suzy's house, and aside from Hanna screaming her ear off ( _"DID ANYONE TRY TO TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF?!"_ ), everything seemed like it would be just fine. Suzy had texted her before she even got home and asked if things were alright, but now that Jill wasn't being attacked on the olfactory front, she could honestly answer that yea, she was definitely okay.

And things would've remained okay if it weren't for Hanna being too nosy for her own good. To be honest, Jill blamed herself for thinking Hanna McPherson understood how personal boundaries worked and that maybe that morning would be the first day that leaving her phone in the living room wouldn't prompt her friend to look through it.

Really, Jill could be goddamn naive at times.

When she came out the bathroom, she found Hanna lying on her stomach on Jill's little love seat, her self-proclaimed "reserved spot" in the omega's home. Jill saw her thumbing through her phone, legs slowly kicking back and forth, and sighed quietly. After five years, Hanna's disregard for her best friend's privacy had become less of a problem and more of an expectation, a mildly irksome quality at best.

Jill breezed past Hanna in desire of some grapes, and had just pulled open the fridge when she heard her friend ask, "Why are you avoiding Suzy?"

Jill froze, her snack put on the back burner of her mind as she contemplated a worthy lie. Hanna could put a polygraph test to shame, the way she refused to tolerate anyone's bullshit (except for Jill's most of the time, and her own, of course). And even though the two girls were in separate rooms, Jill knew Hanna could tell she had her pinned.

Jill figured her best bet was to feign ignorance until she could find a way to distract Hanna away from the truth (the truth being that Jill loathed a stranger she'd never even seen before because they smelled good. Yeah, it sounded stupid to her too). So she put on a carefree voice and replied, "I don't know what you mean."

"No," Hanna barked, mild annoyance already tinting her tone, "No, don't you even think you're make-believing your way out of this."

"Make-believing my way out of what?" Jill asked coyly, pulling some grapes out the bunch to rinse in the sink.

One thing Jill loved most in the whole world was seeing how easily Hanna succumbed to her frustration, and they both knew it. It was something most people would associate with Alphas, an aptly named type-A personality trait, so it was amusing to see a "neutral" beta with a short fuse.

Hanna sighed- she had no idea who told Jill she was good at diverting questions, but they needed to apologize for fooling the poor girl into believing such a thing. The omega was probably in the kitchen silently celebrating, since Hanna tended to move on from Jill's nonsense, but unfortunately the beta was anticipating such an assumption. To Hanna, beating around the bush was a game she didn't have patience for, but she also refused to let Jill think she won a battle of wits and willpower. So if she wanted to play, Hanna was going to play with her, goddammit.

Jill waltzed into the living room with a little bowl of fruit and a little smug grin. She sat on the couch with the bowl in her lap, and began watching Hanna and eating grapes. Hanna's burgundy hair was a long curtain down the side of her face and along her shoulder to her elbow. Her eyes were fixed to her own phone now, Jill's now laying on the arm of the love seat, and she was typing something.

Jill grabbed the remote to her modest-sized TV (small appliances, small furniture, small apartment, small omegas) and had started flipping aimlessly through the channels when she heard, "You told her the reason you couldn't come today was that you had to take your cat to the vet."

Jill glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye, her mouth feeling suddenly dry despite the juicy fruit she was snacking on. Jill's phone was in Hanna's possession again, and the omega wondered how she didn't even see Hanna grab it again. With her stealth and ability to gain information on just about anyone, Jill always thought she could land a job as a fucking CIA agent.

"I might have," Jill answered, attempting the innocent act again despite it not having any real footing at this point.

Hanna finally looked at the omega, who was refusing to turn her head and meet the glare she knew would be waiting to greet her. "Veterinarian appointments don't last that long." She paused briefly. "And you don't even _own_ a cat, Jillian."

"Not yet," Jill replied like it was a chore to explain her lie, "I have to go get one, buy it cat stuff, and THEN take it to the vet. It may need shots or to get fixed or even put down, all in one visit. Suzy doesn't have to know all the details."

Hanna's eye roll was almost audible. "Yesterday you said you had to had to attend a funeral. The only thing you did was watch Scrubs and eat ice cream."

"The funeral of my beautiful figure, succumbed to the wiles of the Dairy Queen."

"The day before you told her you were sick."

"I _was_ sick that day."

"Yeah, after we went to that bar where the bartender always gives you double shots for the price of a single. You cannot use your future hangover in lieu of a current illness."

"Well excuse me for being ahead of the curve."

"Whatever. Hey, do you wanna go grab some food?"

The question threw Jill off, seeing as she was ready for Hanna to call her out on her bullshit some more, not suggest a lunch break. Her bowl was empty and while the little bunch of grapes was nice, the idea of going out for something a bit more substantial sounded great.

With a smile, Jill agreed, just glad that her friend was dropping the subject.

\-----

Twenty minutes later, Jill was scowling. Hanna couldn't possibly be her friend, because Satan didn't have the capacity for friendship.

Of course. Of _course_ Hanna was responding to a lunch invite text from Suzy under the guise of playing Twenty Questions. Of _course_ Hanna would drive them to Suzy's house. Of _course_ Jill didn't recognize the address in the GPS.

"Jill, you can really be naive sometimes."

Jill's head whipped around to stare daggers into Hanna, but the beta was already turning off the engine and undoing her seatbelt. And from the downward quirk of her lips as she climbed out of the vehicle, she wasn't too thrilled about their location either. A little pissed, even.

With a long suffering sigh, Jill quickly got out to catch up, but Hanna kept trudging on, determined about... something. Jill wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer or not.

"What are you even doing?" Jill yell-whispered, not wanting to prematurely announce their presence (and also not wanting to bring any attention to themselves in case Hanna was planning on, for example, setting Suzy's front lawn on fire or something).

"Doing what I do best, my dear," Hanna replied plainly, but Jill knew better- behind the yellow Ray-Bans on her face was a dark gleam, her nerves pressed upon by Jill's cowardice and whatever caused her to avoid seemingly nice people like Arin and Suzy. "Gonna get up in some personal business and figure out what your issue is."

Out the corner of her eye, a vehicle in the driveway caught Jill's attention, and she stopped following Hanna to stare at it. The last time she visited, there were two cars present, both pulled into the garage and presumably belonging to Arin and Suzy. Those two were parked in the garage again, side by side, meaning the third vehicle was probably not owned by the couple.

Jill swallowed hard. If that other car was driven by the Alpha whose scent was engulfing Suzy's place, Hanna wasn't the only one who'd be facing Jill's "issue" that day.

The sound of Hanna knocking on the door felt muffled in Jill's ears, like she couldn't fathom that a situation this cruel could ever happen to her. She didn't even realize the front door was opening and Hanna was being greeted until a chipper voice called to her, "And it's nice too see you again, Jill!"

She shook herself out of her stupor and looked up to see Suzy looking back at her from the stoop with a soft smile and worry lines between her brows. Next to her, Hanna's face was still cool, but there was that slight frown on her mouth- a telltale sign that she meant business.

"Don't mind her," Hanna slyly jumped in. She herself was at a loss for Jill's curious behavior, but that wasn't for Suzy to be concerned with. She discreetly motioned at the omega with her hand to move, and as Jill seemed to begrudgingly catch up to the betas, Hanna added, "She's having an off day," and it didn't even feel like a cover.

"Mhm, I see," Suzy hummed, nodding with understanding as her guests passed by her to stand in the hall as she closed the door behind them, "Happens to all of us. But being in good company should fix that, right?" She shot Jill a smile that shined just as lovely as she was, but it didn't quite mask the underlying doubt, the question of _You_ do _consider us good company, right?_  peeking out behind a crooked tooth.

Jill suddenly felt queasy, hoping it was the grapes secretly being spoiled and not karma sending a wave of guilt to roll precariously in her gut. Regardless, she swallowed a little thickly and grinned back. "Right," she managed to reply, thankful that her voice remained even.

Apparently it was all she had to say- Suzy acknowledged the answer with a cheery _That's cool_ , while Hanna took off her sunglasses and subtly cocked an eyebrow at Jill. She was silently asking if Suzy wasn't a horrible person just acting sweet now that the omega apparently brought reinforcement. When Suzy passed Hanna to lead them to the dining room, Jill reached out to quickly and covertly squeeze Hanna's fingers twice. Hanna's smirk turned into a more genuine grin before returning the gesture and pulling Jill along to follow behind Suzy.

Instead of the kitchen this time, Jill found their group in the dining room she had only passed during her first visit. She felt a bit taken aback by how that Bonded pair's smell was non existent, compared to how strong it had been when she barely got a whiff from the doorway. She knew she hadn't been gone _that_ long, and an omega nose didn't exactly come with settings to dull things at will, especially new scents or ones searched for.

"Nice digs," Hanna complimented Suzy as the hostess invited the others to sit at the ample-sized table. The guests chose side by side seating, always conscious to keep their nonverbal cues an option.

Suzy hadn't let her smile waver since she opened the front door. Jill was positive she ate oatmeal and rainbows for breakfast, no one was naturally that cheery. "Oh, thanks! We're constantly having people in and out- it's nice to know the interior design's actually being noticed."

Hanna almost looked offended on Suzy's behalf. "Are you serious? The balance of this room alone is so low key beautiful, it's like HGTV owes it its own half hour special."

Jill blankly nodded in agreement, but her mind began to wander again as Hanna and Jill talked about paint swatches and room composition, or something to that effect. Her mind was still on how that sweet icy melon wasn't gracing her nose, no matter how hard she sniffed.

In fact, as she pondered on that conundrum, it dawned on her that she hadn't smelled _anyone_ in the hall outside of cupcakey Suzy and Hanna's hazelnut-paprika combo, despite clear evidence other people were present. Even the food from the kitchen (a dish involving spices and pepper) hung thickly in the air, due to the other smells being somehow lessened. She knew-she _fucking_ knew- that an Alpha scent couldn't just fizzle out that easily ( _it was there, she may not be able to smell it but its presence was almost palpable- she could **feel** it under this discomforting blanket of senselessness. It was searching for her too_ ). And yet it was as if she were breathing through a dozen surgical masks as she tried to get a solid reading on it again.

 _This must be how betas smell,_ Jill thought as she discreetly took another big whiff (not noticing the sideways glance Hanna threw at her in response to the soft sound), _if it's not in their face, other scents are muted and dull. How droll._

It was the sound of repetitive beeping that pulled Jill out of her thoughts, and apparently also marked the end of Hanna and Suzy's conversation about... stuff.

"Is that a bomb in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Hanna teased, eliciting a quick laugh from Suzy. She seemed to enjoy Hanna's sense of humor, which equally delighted and worried Jill.

"Sorry, neither," she said, not sounding very sorry at all as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to shut off the incessant noise. "Timer. Means the guys are ready for their break, which means it's time for lunch!"

Jill's throat constricted around a particularly hard swallow. She was losing her sense of smell **and** she was about to share a meal with an Alpha. It looked like she was having an off day after all.

"What's on the menu?" Hanna asked, oblivious to Jill's silent plight as Suzy made her way towards the archway.

"Fajitas, I hope that's okay," she asked, lingering in the doorway to get their response.

"Superb," Hanna replied cheekily, looking at her friend. Jill realized a second too late that Suzy was also waiting in anticipation, and she nodded a little too fiercely. If anything, that just slid some awkwardness into the ensuing silence. Nonetheless, Suzy smiled that smile that wasn't going anywhere and stepped out of the room.

Once she was out of ear shot, there was no time wasted. "So what am I missing here, Foust?" Hanna asked bluntly as she turned in her seat to face Jill. "Suzy is lovely and the way she talked about her husband makes me wish I was married just so I could swing with them. Why don't you like her?"

The insinuation that _anyone_ was actually capable of disliking Suzy- let alone herself- was appalling to Jill. She quickly shook her head while trying to battle the look of abject horror on her face. "No," she protested, "I don't dislike Suzy."

Hanna nodded, because of course she knew that already. "So it's Arin, then."

Again, Jill was shaking her head. "No, he's great."

A sly grin appeared on Hanna's face as she leaned in a bit more, getting ready for the "A-HA!" moment of cracking the case. "I see," she spoke lowly, "Well we both know it's not usually _betas_ that make you act all out of whack, now is it?"

Suddenly the chipping polish on Jill's nails seemed very interesting, enough so that she broke her best friend's drilling eye contact just so she could stare intently at the paint. Picking at the peeling glitter top coat was clearly something she needed to invest her attention in, so she silently responded to Hanna's inquiry with a shrug of her shoulders.

Hanna wasn't deterred. To be honest, Jill's resistance only egged her on more (it was a staple of their friendship, and reminiscent of how the pair become impossibly close in the first place). "Jillian," she hissed, amused and agitated at the same time, "You did **not** let some Alpha chase you away from making friends."

One pinky nail was chipped clean, a bare nail emerging from the shine and the chartreuse. She was so enthralled by her progress she forgot to respond to Hanna. Oops.

"What happened?"

Jill started on the other pinky for the sake of symmetry. Maybe solidarity.

"What did they look like? Were they an entitled asshole?"

 _I hope this color wasn't discontinued yet._

Hanna sighed in patient frustration. She'd be better off talking to a mule, how stubborn Jill could be sometimes. "Jillian Benét," she reasoned, "I know you don't like it when I get all mother coddly mode on you. But if you don't tell me what your deal is, so help me god I will not hesitate to shove that candle so far up-"

"Candle?" Jill's gaze flicked up and reflected the flames of a trio of them set up as part of the centerpiece for the table. They weren't special by any means- ivory, cylindrical, odorless- but Jill finally understood the cause of her predicament.

"Those weren't here," she mumbled pitifully, dread slinking from the pit of her belly and creeping its way up, each rib another rung for it to climb. "I passed this room last time and the table just had the place mats and the leafy arrangement, not those."

Hanna stared at her friend, then studied the candles, then back at Jill with an odd blend of confusion, understanding, and aggravation. "So you think they got white smell candles... because of you?"

Jill didn't know how effective the _duh_ expression she was trying to display was, especially given how Hanna didn't look amused in the slightest. So she responded, "No shit. Their Alpha friends must've caught my scent and said something to Suzy, so she's trying to mask me up." Jill exhaled, sad and resigned. It was what is was, right? Omegas distract Alphas just by existing, and ones with an established friendship with someone Jill just met certainly had the right to complain.

(She didn't understand the stigma when she was a child, didn't get why Mama wasn't allowed in Daddy's study but his children were. Jill was an omega too, what was the difference?

(She eventually got it, though. When she had to be sent home from her third day of 8th grade because puberty was making her scent grow stronger and unbridled without suppressors, and the Alphas in the geometry class wouldn't stop pointing their noses in her direction, that's when she got it.))

That apparently didn't sit well with Hanna. She tapped her chin as she rearranged the facts in her head to come up with another conclusion. "Or," she spoke slowly as if she was on the verge of an epiphany, "Or. Um, so the Alpha in question wasn't even here when you came over?"

Jill furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly shook her head. Where was she going with this?

"But you knew Arin and Suzy had Alpha friends that visit, the same way _they_ would know you were here. And in fact, you'd be more likely to pick up on frequent flyers than vice versa."

Incredulous. Jill was incredulous. "Hold up, you're not implying-"

"Oh, but I am." Hanna's face took smug to an unfathomable level. "You must've been acting like a spaz when you were here, and when their friends said something, two and two were put together. And just for that I like Suzy even more, perceptive little minx."

Jill wanted to argue (she always wanted to argue with Hanna, that was another staple of their impeccable friendship) but then distant voices from down the hall caught her attention. Namely, after picking out Arin and Suzy, there was a third person in the mix she tuned in to. It was male but lacked deep bass, a medium range tenor if she had to guess. Their conversation was indecipherable at this distance, but there was laughter ( _oh god, is he fucking_ giggling _?_ ) and they were getting closer.

Under the table, Jill shoved her hand into Hanna's lap where the beta's own hand was already resting. She squeezed once, and Hanna's thumb darted out to rub her friend's knuckles. Meeting new people always gave Jill a bit of anxiety, but Alphas were the coup de grâce, the deciding factor of whether she'd keep her cool or fall into the throes of a temporary freakout.

Given the fact she hadn't even met this guy yet, the latter seemed more likely.

"Chill," Hanna murmured, thumb still stroking the back of Jill's shaking, stiff fist, "This isn't your first rodeo. You're gonna eat a fajita, make conversation that doesn't sound like you're on the verge of crying, and- most importantly- _not_ worry about what some sweaty knot-jock thinks, alright?"

Jill hadn't even realized she was breathing rapidly until she went to laugh at Hanna's commentary and only came up with a wheeze. She closed her eyes and started inhaling deeply through her nose, exhaling through her mouth.

Between her minor meditation and Hanna's whispers of encouragement, she didn't hear the others coming towards them until they were right outside the door. She opened her eyes to Suzy carrying a tray of the tortillas and various sauces. "Ta-da!" The hostess announced as she swept into the room and placed her burden on the table.

Behind her, Arin had a pan of slivered chicken and peppers, warm and spicy smelling. He did an exaggerated double take at Jill and Hanna, causing the guests to chuckle at him.

"J-J-J-Jill?!" He stuttered, pretending to be dumbfounded, "You haven't been here in like, like, uh, forty-seven kajillion years! We thought you were dead, didn't we babe?" (Suzy was already turned away when Arin looked dumbly at her for confirmation, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter). "So, uh, yeah! Thanks for not dying and shit! _And_ for bringing a friend!"

He offered the sitting women high fives, and became seemingly normal when introducing himself to Hanna shortly after.

She was so caught up in Arin's silliness and her stomach being interested by the food presented in front of them that Jill nearly forgot a party was missing from their... er, party.

As it were, at the same time she wondered when Arin or Suzy would go back to grab the plates, a creaking of floorboards outside the room was the only warning she received before the absentee was suddenly present.

"Hey Suze, is that one set of china alri-"

The room felt too small, her clothes felt too tight, her skin felt translucent. Because at the same time she looked to see who had entered the dining room, he looked to see the new faces in his friends' home. They made eye contact and the earth tilted a little crookedly for a moment.

He wasn't what she expected, wild Tarzan hair and the lankiest of lanky frames, but his Alpha status was undeniable. He was handsome ( _brown eyes tanned skin strong jaw covered in yesterday's five o'clock shadow good lord_ ) and his slight slouch didn't hide his height. It certainly was on display when he seemed to shake himself of their private stupor first, inviting smile appearing as he effortlessly set the plates on the edge of the table to be able to lean over the table and offer her a free hand to shake.

"Hey, I'm Danny. And you?"

It was so... casual, no pressure to return the kindness he was projecting, and that's what made her grab his hand with the one that was previously holding Hanna's (Neither of them would be the one to acknowledge the warmth radiating between their palms). "Jill," she replied with her own smile, coy but surprisingly not uncomfortable.

His grin grew wider at the corners, eyes reflecting light a little brighter. "It's very nice to meet you, Jill."

"Likewise."

The handshake was more of a partially animated hand holding, and Jill was definitely _**not**_ thinking of how his large grip nearly engulfed everything to her wrist when he gently released her to greet Hanna next. Hanna had been kicking the leg of her chair the moment Dan stepped into the room, and she aimed one at the omega's calf as she quickly shook his hand. It caused Jill to inhale sharply, her face relatively close to Danny's armpit, and the sound caused him to turn his head towards her, his nose close enough to get a good whiff of her hair.

...

...

_Oh fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> about the candles mentioned- white smell is totally a thing! [[x](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/02/white-noise-smell-nose_n_6083612.html)]  
> if you didn't click the link, basically it's like how white noise can block out sound around you, but this is for your nose. (technically the candles should also have a unique smell but ehhhhhh this is a story about soul bonding and humans who mate in cycles with super genitalia, i think i can take a few liberties)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just gonna go sit in the corner and write "sorry for not having any semblance of a schedule" four thousand times
> 
> on a lighter note, thanks for the comments and kudos! it warms my cold heart and feeds my children.*
> 
> love you guys!!
> 
> *probably should not reproduce lbr

**_Oh. Fuck._ **

Jill had begun to acclimate to the smell-blindness, so it was a shock to her system when Danny's scent rushed into her nostrils without a fair warning, like a drought followed by a typhoon.

Up close like this, even beneath his clean body wash, the elements of his sunny shoreline aroma were easier to define than when they were just ghosts of themselves. Hot sand, humid air, a little brine, sea foam and the tendrils of smoke like a recently extinguished barbeque. He was a living summer holiday, and once again he was enticing her with little more than his presence.

It was that first day all over again, except certainly more intense and almost... sensual. Because just as Danny was probably aware of her sniffing at him, she too could hear his nose pulling in the air around her in slow gulps. For the second time in about a minute it was just them- two strangers hovering in a plane of existence where up and down didn't matter, where social constructs and common sense couldn't lord over biology and human nature. Jill met Danny. Woman met man. omega met Alpha.

"Ahem."

The two separated from each other so quickly that Jill's chair almost toppled over while Danny righted himself back into a proper standing position. Aside from Hanna's fake cough, it was clear that the betas had been silently watching their friends' odd interactions from the moment Danny entered the room. Hanna, Suzy, and Arin were still staring at the newly acquainted pair, different versions of intrigued in their expressions. All Jill and Danny could do is return the fixed gazes, albeit while their cheeks reddened under the scrutiny.

It was Arin who attempted to break up the quiet awkwardness. "Well... I'm hungry, so I'm just gonna eat now."

It was a noble attempt, but the overall discomfort in the room refused to be deterred. Regardless, everyone agreed to move on from whatever was occurring in those previous moments and make it through lunch.

(Danny passed the plates out, and while he and Jill pointedly avoided looking at each other when he gave her a dish, their hands accidentally brushed each other's. They jerked their arms away as if they had pricked their fingers on fleshy needles. Neither would dwell on how the ensuing coldness left a different type of ache in its wake.)

For the most part the meal past by smoothly. After a while conversation started flowing and Hanna easily slid into the thick of it, a natural social butterfly. Jill was always more comfortable watching people interact, and as everyone chit-chatted about whatever floated their boat she began to relax. Albeit she tried not to look at the man who oh-so conveniently had taken the seat across from her (it was either that or the sixth chair that would've placed them directly next to each other), but every once in a while he'd release another of his joyful chuckles and she couldn't help sneaking a glance at him.

(He'd catch her almost every time, but the looks were so brief that he began writing them off as more of a reaction than a purposeful motion. All the same, he may or may not have increased the frequency of his laughter just to see the flash of her light brown eyes on him.)

Eventually Jill couldn't help tuning more into Danny's contribution to the table talk, how the beginning of every thought started languidly but would pick up a little speed as he got more enthused about the subject matter. He sometimes used his hands for emphasis, but it seemed less subconscious like most people and more like just something to do, idle hands. In fact that was how she noticed he had odd shaped thumbs- when he wasn't talking with his hands or eating, his long fingers wouldn't sit still, tapping, drawing formless shapes, gripping the edge of the table.

For a moment Jill had a fleeting image in her mind of those fingers dancing their way across bare skin, touching and tracing and stroking, always moving. When it became apparent that it was her own skin she was imagining she sat up a little straighter and crossed her legs.

_Get a grip._

Apart from hums of agreement and small giggles at jokes, she hadn't really said anything during the discussion. This obviously hadn't gone completely unnoticed because suddenly Suzy gasped and interjected, "Oh! Jill, you never told me how the vet appointment went. How's your cat?"

Karma. Karma must've been waiting patiently for this because Jill now had all eyes on her like pairs of spotlights and she had no back up story. Her mouth opened without her consent to start a sentence, "My cat..." but shut once more when it didn't have anything else to add yet. Hanna started tapping her shoe rhythmically against the leg of her friend's chair, an amused tempo. God, she was the literal worst.

Everyone fell silent, waiting. Next to Hanna, Suzy and Arin peered encouragingly at Jill. Across from her Danny's hands were folded and placed in his lap. When Jill finally looked him directly in the face again, he gave her a small smile, eager for her to be the center of attention. This moment felt less like a spotlight and more like the gallows.

The best option would be to tell the truth, just admit that there was no cat and that she was a shy individual with a partial Alpha prejudice. _My cat doesn't exist, never did. I am a terrible liar and also your hot Alpha friend smells like ambrosia. I want nothing to do with him and also to eat him alive. I will see myself out of your home, goodbye._ Oddly enough, though, when Jill stopped her floundering to confess, her tongue betrayed her and a different set of words tumbled out.

"My cat... had to be put down. He had... a tumor. And worms. The worms gave him a tumor."

Danny's bottom lip poked out sympathetically. Arin muttered _Oh shit_ while Suzy gasped a sad noise. Hanna coughed but it sounded suspiciously like a short series of snickers. Jill mentally smacked herself.

"Oh god," Suzy apologized, "I didn't know, I'm so sorry. What an awful week you've been having. First that funeral and now your cat."

The devil in Hanna McPherson reared its vile head, milking this for way more than it was worth. "Poor Uncle Lie-onel," she "conspicuously" emphasized the first part of the name while pretending to lament over the falsely departed. Not for the first time, Jill contemplated if homicide would really put a damper on their friendship. "Choked to death. How exactly did he get that foot stuck in his mouth aga-"

"I rather not talk about this at the table," Jill hissed out, head bowed in an attempt to hide the red trying to tint the apples of her cheeks once more. It was bad enough Hanna tried to out her, but the way the others were pitying her for nothing was twice as embarrassing. She could still feel everyone's gazes locked on her, and her face couldn't take the heat anymore. "Not appropriate meal conversation. Just... something else. Can we talk about something else? Please?"

The soft thudding against her chair slowed, not stopping but a more comforting speed. Hanna then launched into a story about how earlier in the week she had to assist with four vasectomies in one day (she had an odd definition of "appropriate"). Also not for the first time, Jill was grateful for her best friend.

It hardly took any time at all for things to fall back into a lull, despite the slight twinge of cautiousness hanging in the air as everyone seemed to be conscious of mistakenly upsetting someone (namely Jill). The main dish was nearing empty as bellies became full, and the rest of the lunch went by tension-free.

Well. There _was_ that one moment where Hanna subtly informed Jill of the sour cream on the side of her mouth. Seeing as the others were listening to Arin recant a story about an air guitar battle he was involved in ( _seriously, who WERE these people?_ ), she decided to forgo using a napkin and just lick it off.

Except her eyes just happened to stray upwards and landed on Danny staring not just back at her, but rather intently on her tongue that had darted out. Jill quickly pulled it back behind her teeth, lips still slightly parted as Danny's gaze shifted to meet hers. His own mouth had also fallen a bit open, and even though the other two women were laughing at some punch line the male beta unleashed, Danny's exhaling after holding his breath to watch her rang through her ears to rattle her nerves.

_Oh._

The moment dissipated, though, and soon after Suzy's phone was shrilly beeping again, another alarm. Jill wanted to ask why these people were on some schedule, but decided against it as the shuffling of chairs echoed in the room.

As plates were being collected, Jill placed hers on top of Hanna's for seemingly no reason. Yes, Danny was the one grabbing them and last time their fingers exchanged a few atoms. But it was purely coincidental that as soon as the Alpha's hand reached for her piece of china she swiftly passed it to her friend. Sake of convenience and what not.

The others were exiting the room, and since they had nothing better to do, the guests decided to follow after them to the kitchen. Inside, Suzy was already rinsing off dining ware and the pan while Arin began loading the dishwasher. Danny was lingering by the doorway. Away from the candles his scent was unadulterated, and from the way his nose twitched when the pair came into view, so was Jill's. She stared over his shoulder, not quite directly at him, the best she could muster while her head was swimming dizzily in the ocean.

Danny took her averted gaze as something else, glancing at where she was looking and coming up with his own conclusion. "Did you want something to drink?" He offered, already reaching for the handle of the two door refrigerator. "I think they have lemonade or iced tea, maybe a beer if that's what you're after."

"Or you can have something hot," Suzy called out, not turning away from the task at hand, "We can boil you up some coffee or tea, we got a bunch of flavors."

"We also have a vat of pig blood in the basement," Arin added in, throwing a look over his shoulder that was too sweet to be sincere, "We were gonna go dump it on this weird virgin girl at prom, but what a waste of good sacrificial blood, ya know?" Suzy promptly cuffed him on the head with a wet palm.

Jill covered her giggle with one hand over her lips as Hanna just threw her head back to laugh aloud and Danny just muttered _Dammit, Arin_ while shaking his head, trying to force back a smile.

"I just wanna know where the bathroom is," Hanna asked once her laughter subsided, hand clutching at her abdomen.

"End of the hall, it's the door kitty corner to the kitchen," Arin helpfully supplied, shutting the dishwasher door and pressing buttons.

Right before she left, Hanna discreetly (just kidding, it wasn't discreet in a remote sense of the word) waggled her eyebrows in Jill's direction, a sign of diabolical events yet to come. The omega responded to her impending doom by looking as unimpressed as possible at her disappearing friend.

There was a faint shushing noise. When Jill turned her head she watched as Suzy stood on her tiptoes to wrapped her arms around Arin's neck. She was whispering something to him, and from the dopey grin on his face as he stared down at her it was clear Jill didn't necessarily want to be privy to their intimacy. She started picking at her nails again.

Really, watching the married couple be all cozy together made the guest become hyper aware that she wasn't exactly a third wheel. She wanted to peer at Danny out of the corner of her eye, but that felt like baiting herself for more discomfort.

Apparently the Alpha didn't share the sentiment as a warm touch barely brushed Jill's elbow, the Sun's gravity trying to pull the Earth in closer and closer until its light could swallow the planet whole. Jill startled at the sensation and looked up to see Danny inching out into the hallway. He placed a finger to his lips and tilted his head for the omega to follow, a hopeful half smile waiting to emerge.

For a moment she considered declining his offer. Then she heard Arin respond to something his wife said with a strange noise akin to a preening jungle cat and- yeah, she left with Danny.

He took light steps down the hall and she copied his example, the pair of them sneaking silently away until they were in the living room. Just like the time before there was a feline presence here- Mimi was lying stomach up on the floor, a jingling ball between her paws that she felt the need to attack. Mochi was draped lethargically across the armrest of the couch watching his kitty companion, probably more annoyed by the bell noise than he was interested.

Jill swiftly stepped around Danny and found herself sitting next to the cat lounging on the couch. He barely acknowledged her with a lazy turn of his head, yawning at her. In turn Jill scratched him behind the ears, and he somehow became even more boneless as he flopped his head back down and submitted to her ministrations.

"You really like cats, huh?" Danny asked, addressing his partner in not quite crime as he leaned against the archway.

The two of them hadn't spoke a word since they left the kitchen, and Jill almost forgot he was there (almost, of course- when someone smelled that goddamn good you don't just forget they're nearby). She felt self conscious of him paying attention to her like this, but he _did_ deliver her unto munchkin kitties, so she owed him a little conversation. "Yeah," she replied a few beats later, "They seem to like me too. I want one."

As soon as she said it she froze, realizing her mistake. She looked up at Danny's face clouding with confusion and tried to correct the situation.

"I-I mean, _another_ one, eventually. I live alone and a cat would- um, **did** keep me company. I have a kinda big family and it was weird at first, striking it on my own. Just... I liked having someone to come home to, y'know?"

Jill's brows furrowed when she was done speaking- why did all that come out? Danny didn't need to know anything about her, let alone her family and - _oh god_ \- how lonely she could get sometimes in her apartment. _She_ hadn't even thought much about it before all that came spilling out.

_That sounded so desperate. What if he interprets that as a.. a plea of some sort?_

To Jill's relief, Danny didn't seem too interested in dissecting her words. He just nodded before pushing off the wall and trekking to sit cross-legged next to the playing kitten, facing Jill.

"Yeah, I feel ya," Danny mused, hand grabbing the toy from Mimi and holding it just shy of the reach of her flexing paws. "I think everyone gets like that sometimes, but other times it's like 'Oh my god, where's the me time?' We're social creatures by design but we're not, like, obligated to get it right."

That... That made too much sense, and Jill shifted in her seat as she mulled over his statement. It wasn't advice and it wasn't a "Duh" kind of thing either. She already knew that, sure, but never had it worded so easily to her before.

She wanted to reply but then Mimi decided she was tired of having her prize dangling out of her range. Before he could react, the cat rolled onto her stomach, tail poised high, and launched herself at Danny's fist, claws digging into his skin as she nipped at his fingers.

"Ah!" He shrieked, trying to gently shake her off but to no avail- she was latched on pretty well. "Mimi you crazy mutant! Here!" He tossed the toy across the floor, and a second later Mimi released him and went skittering after it.

Jill couldn't help being amused as Danny inspected the scratches on his hand and upper arm, checking for puncture wounds from the bites as he muttered "That crazy bitch," under his breath. He glanced up at the omega's light laughter, trying to look offended but half smirking himself. "You like the misfortune of others, then? That's how you get your kicks?"

Jill wrinkled her nose at him, still smiling. Next to her Mochi released a soundless yawn, stretching his paws out in front of him but making no attempt to move from his spot. "I think you're calling me a sadist, sir," she joked, smiling a bit wider when the Alpha's smirk also expanded.

"I think you may be one, ma'am" he shot back, gripping his ankles and resting his elbows on his knees.

"I think you're probably just into that sort of thing."

"I think you wouldn't mind if I were."

Well. How does one respond to _that_? "I think... you're trying to flirt with me, Daniel."

Cocking his scarred eyebrow at her, Danny didn't miss a beat. "I think you're delusional, Jillian."

Jill sneered at him and opened her mouth to retaliate when he continued. "I think you _know_ there's no trying here."

Her mouth snapped shut and she swallowed so hard she thought that everyone in the house heard it. Her cheeks became warm as Danny gazed at her, seemingly relaxed as if there was no stakes in his confession.

And, really, there weren't any stakes when it came to being attracted to a new person- at worst, Jill could deny his advances, and it'd be no skin off his back. They didn't have any friendship or history that could be ruined, what would it matter?

However, what **did** matter to her was not letting an Alpha get the upper hand when they didn't need to have it. In beta territory, they were equals. She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders, looking down at him from the sectional seat as if it were a throne. "If you could call it that," she said coolly.

Danny made a shocked noise and sat up a little straighter. He seemed excited and Jill didn't know what to make of that. "Oh, so I haven't even made a dent in the wall yet?"

Jill shook her head while biting back another giggle. "I'm afraid not."

Exhaling an exaggerated groan, Danny planted his palms behind him and leaned back as he uncrossed his legs to extend out in front of himself. His socked feet were mere inches from where Jill's flats were tucked against the couch, and it wouldn't have taken much effort for either of them to bridge the gap. "Ugh, so now I gotta make a real effort. You're a cruel woman. Is this even worth my time?"

Jill shrugged, Danny's sense of humor keeping her entertained. "Depends on what you like, I guess."

He looked off into space for a moment as if contemplating something. Jill appreciated the view of his head tilted back to display some veins in his neck. Behind him Mimi had accidentally batted the ball beneath the recliner and was trying to weasel herself under the seat.

"I... I guess you could say I like a lot of things," he said wistfully, still looking at nothing in particular, his grin now just lifting the corners of his thin lips. "But we encounter new things and people and experiences every day. You never know how much you like something until you come across it, right?"

Jill could only nod. Even with how vague he was being, the Alpha spoke clearly and simply without dumbing things down. It was refreshing to converse with a stranger as smoothly as this, no small talk about the weather or gas prices.

But as she was coming to realize, Danny was no ordinary stranger. "For example," he added on, tone almost sultry and his gaze finally fixing itself on Jill again, "the other day I found out I could get off on the smell of raspberries and cranberries."

It took no time for a blush to engulf Jill's face, deeper than she could recall ever feeling it in her life. That meant- he was saying- Danny had-

"I see," she squeaked out, legs crossing out of fear that her scent- _the very one Danny just admitted his sexual attraction for_ \- could be wafting out thickly from the edges of her shorts. (Given how the dark look in his eyes was on the verge of lighting a fire within her, the move wasn't as preemptive as she'd planned.) In retrospect, she realized too late that he’d been inhaling it in the entire time she’d been there, and that this closely there really wasn’t much she could do to hide it. But she kept the pose, liking how long it made her legs appear. "That's quite something, isn't it?"

"Isn't it?" Danny echoed, an odd expression on his face, even as his eyes swept over her thighs in a slow crawl. It wasn't subtle but something about it was difficult to decipher- like being on the outside of a private joke, or perhaps there was some elephant in the room Jill just couldn't spot.

There was more to be discussed, but then an incriminating voice exclaiming _Aha!_ startled them both (and the cats- Mochi flinched under Jill's fingers and Mimi's head appeared from under the recliner).

"They're in here _canoodling_ ," Hanna accused, brandishing her finger at the pair.

Arin appeared next to her, looking somewhat disappointed. "That word. I don't think it means what you think it means," he recited upon discovering the considerable distance between the two.

"As if you'd honestly be down with people fucking in your house that aren't you and Suze," Danny stated bluntly. It shocked a short giggle out of Jill, causing Danny to unabashedly wink at her. Another giggle followed. Hanna’s eyebrows shot up her forehead.

"Usually that would be true," Arin conceded, a look of true consideration in his eyes as he glanced between the Alpha and omega while gnawing on a knuckle. "But. I may make an exception for a good old fashioned orgy. You two would look good together bumpin' uglies on the rug."

Danny laughed uncontrollably as Jill covered her still burning face with both hands, much to Mochi's chagrin. The cat slinked off to nap elsewhere.

Hanna slapped Arin's upper arm, mock insulted. "Hey, where's my invite? I'm a hot commodity, bub."

"Couples only, sweetheart," Arin said sympathetically, "We don't do odd numbers at my orgies."

"That's discrimination!"

"That's one less lonely set of genitals."

Once he got his breath back, Danny nudged Jill's foot with his own. She peered at him over her fingertips, still mortified. They ignored the argument in the archway. ("Who rations lube? Who honestly does shit like that?!")

"How about it?" Danny teased in a low tone, mirth in his smile and an alluring sparkle in his gaze.

Jill's hands found their way to her lap. "What?" she hissed back. It felt like being a conspirator.

("Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, but there certainly is **not** a union for gangbangs.")

"Want to literally tear up a rug?" It was obviously a joke, but something told Jill that Danny wouldn't be too opposed to her accepting his offer.

Regardless, Jill covered her mouth as another peal of delighted tittering escaped her lips. On the floor Danny too was chortling. His foot still rested against hers and neither minded.

They were in the midst of sinking into each other's company again, so of course this had to be disrupted.

A hand wrapped around her wrist, Jill felt Hanna literally pulling her out of the spell and towards the front door. "Your loss, buddy!" Hanna berated Arin, who stood with his arms crossed in the same manner Danny had done earlier. "I have a tattoo on my ass you would've been talking about for weeks!"

"You're taking this personally," Arin tried to pacify her, biting his lip to hide a grin, "It's not you, it's me."

"Bullshit! This is a house of bullshit!" And with that Hanna yanked the front door open and started dragging her friend out.

Jill looked back over her shoulder to see that Danny had hopped off the floor to watch her leave against her will. He caught the screen before it swung shut and called to her, "See you later, Jill!"

"Bye!" She waved back at him, smiling when he did the same.

"Will you be back for lunch sometime, Hanna?" Arin yelled out when they reached her vehicle.

Hanna leered at him. "Of course I will, asshole! Our war has only yet begun! I will become a part of your stupid orgy, Arin!"

(There was an elderly man walking his dog across the street as this exchange took place. He mumbled to himself about the lack of decency among the youth and continued his venture.)

As Jill climbed in the car, she looked down the sidewalk again at the door. Beyond the screen she could see Suzy appear behind the men and say something. It was clearly related to their schedule because Arin turned on his heel and obediently followed her down the hall.

Danny, still watching the omega, gave another little wave, more of a lazy salute in her direction. Jill returned the gesture and that's when he retreated into the house, shutting the door behind him.

Jill slumped in her seat, a bit saddened that their time in Suzy and Arin's household was cut short. She actually had enjoyed herself, despite her previous preconceptions that things would've ended up terribly.

"Ahem."

Then again, why should she go looking for uncomfortable situations when Hanna reveled in personally delivering them onto her?

"What should we talk about first: the unprotected eye sex love child you're going to have with Danny, or how your cat apparently died of _tumor worms_?"

Another blush. Jill was getting used to the heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone wants to hit me up, i made a fandom twitter! @0nlyembersleft (i've yet to really use it but i figured it's an easy way to keep in touch (jk no friends) without confusing the family members who follow my personal account (again no friends)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> i'm gonna drop a warning about graphic depiction of dubcon masturbation (wow that's a thing I typed just now) during the first of this chapter. like... i really don't know how else to define this as and while it only involves one person, the implications of a/b/o verse make it clear that this rarely ever a fun experience. it's more like a period than an optional activity, and while there are ways to manage it's not something you sign up for nor can completely opt out of. i imagine some readers know this already but heads up for everyone else. pew pew triggers

Jill was getting used to the Heat. But that didn't mean she had to like it.

Hot. That was the only way to describe it- sweltering, unbearable hotness slithering through her veins with every push and pull of her blood flow. Her body was an endless fuse, eating itself slowly but never igniting the dynamite that surely had to be at the other end.

The air conditioning was cranked up to make her home frigid, a fan on its highest setting pointed at her bed, but she couldn't feel a thing that wasn't her entire being combusting from the inside out over and over. Her blackout curtains were drawn shut, and besides the oscillation of the fan and her rasping breaths the room was essentially silent. The blanket was strewn on the floor and she laid naked faced down atop the sheets, anticipating the melatonin and Ambien to kick in.

It usually took no longer than a half hour for sleep to take over, and it had already been ten minutes. Her eyes had slipped closed and the Heat was currently borderline tolerable, thrumming below the surface, temporarily recessed. All Jill had to do was endure a few more minutes and she could skip some more hours of her monthly hell.

_Go to sleep._

_Go to sleep._

_Go to sl-_

_..._

_**God-**_ fucking _-dammit._

So much for that plan.

The need for release was a resilient force, always as agonizing as the last go round. Her core, the epicenter of the inferno, began throbbing once more, painful and insistent.

Jill groaned feebly, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes as she impatiently hoped for the agonizing wave to pass on its own. She kept her eyes shut and her shallow breathing even, willing her limbs and pelvis to be as still as possible.

It didn't take long for her to realize this was another losing battle, though, especially as she approached the edge rapidly but then just... stayed there. These were the moments she hated the most out of this life- it was enough when she'd come several times outside of her own volition, but when the feeling wouldn't go away and just needled at her until she had to take matters into her own hands?

She was Rome, aflame and enraged. She was Nero and she was the fiddle, orchestrating her own demise while everything burned. She was an instrument of self destruction, and there was no way out of the cycle.

(Well, there was the other option, the not-so alternative lifestyle. But there were horror stories upon horror stories about choosing wrong, and many mate-less omegas before her have lived without suppressors and sleeping aids. It was her one sign of strength, her anchor in the storm- she could do this. She _would_ do this.)

Even though she was exhausted and her nerves were frayed, Jill flopped onto her back and began reaching for the bedside end table. Even in near pitch blackness she could see outlines vividly, but she didn't need sight to navigate through the bottom drawer she was well acquainted with. Underneath a few old shirts, she pushed past condoms and other little packets until her hand landed on-

The feeling of pliant rubber skidding beneath the pads of her fingers zipped up her arm and downdowndown to add itself to the ruthless tension in her lap. She could've screamed if she had the energy at all, it all felt so cruel.

With an agitated huff she blindly pulled the black device out of its hiding spot. Her legs spread to an accommodating width and for a split second she wondered how wanton she must've looked.

Jill wasted no time in getting to work. She nudged the smooth tip up against where her body was at its hottest and wrinkled her nose when she was met with lots of wetness and no resistance. As she pressed in more another wave of slick rolled out, coating the vibrator and her fingers copiously.

She hoped- almost prayed- that it would be enough to just fill herself to the hilt, but after counting to twenty and only getting a single dismal shiver up her spine, she wanted to kick herself for being so optimistic. She took a deep breath and exhaled after twisting the base, a low buzzing immediately following.

Her hips started twitching and her chest was heaving, but she didn't want to chase the pleasure so much as she wanted to chase the caustic aching _away_. Albeit, her nerves were alight and tuned to the vibrating mass between her legs, but how could she consciously and willingly be into... this? What enjoyment could be found in periodically turning into a mindless, burning, breeding machine?

The pulses pushed her closer and closer to the end, like a diver's toes slipping past the edge of a cliff above water, but that leap was just out of her reach. She turned the dial in small increments every minute or so, the increases in intensity only winding up her more and more with no pay off. There was only one solution left, to her complete dismay.

Jill felt positively breathless, her little cries of distress mingled with overworked panting. Tired of putting off the inevitable and pissed off at herself, she trailed her finger the small switch on the base. She waited a bit more to see if her body would just give in to the vibrator that now sent fast and hard tremors through her core and up her arching spine, but the end never came.

Exhaling with the weight of the world pressing her to her bed, she flicked the switch. The buzzing slowed to calculated pulsating as the bottom of the rubber began pushing out against her wet walls at a snail's pace. Time ticked on until a smooth ball, wider than the rest of the rather massive toy, was fully extended and lodged firmly inside her.

An artificial knot. Her last line of defense in a pinch of desperation.

The haze in her head dissipated and the flames under her flesh became mere embers as Jill came with a yowl, a bittersweet mixture of relief and exertion in every fiber of her physical and mental self. The orgasm washed over her like an endless warm bath, the throbbing mass acting as a seal keeping more wetness from soaking her bed further.

She could feel her heartbeat pounding harshly between her legs, and the icy air in the room stung at her face in a way that told her that tears had been falling from her eyes. She weakly swiped at her damp lashes and tried to steady her sobs as she waited for the ripples to stop.

In her laxness, her mind began to wander- something it couldn't do when her instincts were weighing down her thoughts. She thought about how her limbs felt like dead weights, one arm laid uselessly across her abdomen. She thought about how uncomfortable she would be the next time she woke up surrounded by her own fluids... again. She thought about the false knot she despised on a purely fundamental level, but was glad it was enough to distract her monthly needs for a while.

Of course, that lead to that one notion she could never truly ignore, the flickering neon possibility always beaming around the edge of the vault she tried to hide it behind. But like every time she used that specific device, the burning question shined in her head brighter than usual.

_Why not just go for the real thing?_

And that just made Jill think of something else, despite her best efforts to deny it. But she was alone with her racing mind and she was never good at calming the mush in her head so soon after being in control of her id again. So it was no fault of hers when the idea of the knot actually belonging to an Alpha's cock strolled through the mental noise. And it certainly was not her fault when she thought about being held by this imaginary Alpha as their real knot filled her with their hot seed, and how strange it would feel to become Bonded with another person until the end of their lives.

However, she had no one to blame but herself when the aforementioned not-quite-identified mate suddenly had large hands and a lot of unruly hair and a melodious laugh and they smelled like-

_No. No fucking way._

She fought against the imagery as she went to toggle the toy off, pretending the last, sudden spike of arousal was simply her body yearning for a few more imitation throbs of the not-knot. The space above the base began shrinking, and Jill couldn't prevent the shiver of disgust as an obscene amount of slick started seeping out around the edges.

The moment it showed any sign of yielding, she whimpered as she tugged the toy out and threw it on the dresser, too wore out to properly clean it until she next got up. Her chest shook with hiccuping breaths but they would be gone by the time she drifted off. She rolled back on her side and pulled at the sheet at the bottom of the bed- the wetness dripping down to her mattress cooling as it made contact with the chilly air. The fabric yanked up to her shoulder, she laid her head on the pillow and felt sleep tugging firmly at her once more.

A fleeting thought of oddly shaped thumbs caressing her bare hip taunted her, but she squeezed her eyes tighter and willed it away with a mantra that she often repeated during the Heats.

_I can do this on my own. I can do this on my own. I can do this on my own._

A few reiterations later, and Jill was curled up and asleep.

\-----

A few days (and three extra long showers) later, the omega discovered the universe wasn't quite done antagonizing her- in the form of a meet-and-greet.

Jill was at the large shopping center near her home, close enough to walk to but far enough to keep her from going there daily and spending all of her money at her favorite pretzel stand. Her hand clutched a small box of lightly salted bites with a small cup of warm cream cheese and another of ranch (an order she was only slightly ashamed to admit that she could obtain there with a simple "My usual, please.") as she strolled past a few stores, not looking at or for anything in particular. She was hardly ever for want, between her mother intermittently shipping her (sometimes coquettish) clothing, and her father sending his "Baby Bear" unnecessary amounts of money whenever he felt like it.

Each window display blended seamlessly into the next without being warranted a second glance. Her eyes roaming from storefront to storefront as she passed them, it wouldn't have been hard for anything remotely remarkable to catch her attention. So the sight of what seemed to be a half circle of people surrounding a smaller group unsurprisingly made her do a double take, and she slowed down her already leisurely gait so she could have more time to assess what was happening before her.

(She was just curious, mind you. Celebrities of any magnitude hardly enticed her. A year or two in LA easily desensitized a person to being starstruck, and after this long Jill considered herself damn near immune.

(Albeit, she'd probably still scream her throat raw if the opportunity to even sit in the same fifty foot radius of Evan Peters arose, but she'd totally keep composed until she got to the comfort of her own home. Probably. Hopefully.))

Upon further investigation, she could see that they were parked in front of the massive video game store, and most of the crowd appeared to be rather young- most of the members looked like college freshmen while the younger of the bunch seemed closer to her stepbrothers' ages, transitioning from elementary to middle school. However, the trio they were gathered around seemed to be a tad older, nearing the cusp of turning thirty.

From her side angle, Jill couldn't make out the third party yet, but she had a nice visual on the others' profiles. The one on the end was a very lovely Alpha with cropped hair, bleached with splashes of pastel lavender in the bangs. Next to her was an omega, the top of his head barely rising above the Alpha's. He bent over to write something on a scrap of paper an auburn haired kid handed him ( _is he signing autographs?_ ), and the way his sharp face jutted out reminded Jill of a pretty bird pecking at seeds in an open palm.

As he held the sheet steady, light kept reflecting off of his wedding band. It matched the ring the Alpha was idly twirling about her finger as another youngster showed her something on their phone.

Jill blamed the two bites of ranch and cream cheese combo she had for the unease that settled over her. She seemed to be having a bad streak with food lately.

Each step forward felt leaden now, and Jill wanted to call off her investigation entirely. There just so happened to be a trash bin a few feet away from the Alpha who was smiling as she posed for a picture with a fan. Jill made a beeline for the bin to dispose of her food, holding her breath as she dumped her wasted food in. She turned away, going to take a deep breath now that the stench of garbage was no longer a threat, but then-

She froze. She froze, because the sudden scent that invaded her nose was one she recognized, and she didn't know what to do with the knowledge that the Alpha and omega of the group was the same icy honeydew melon so in love Bonded pair that frequented Suzy and Arin's home.

The real kicker, though, was when Jill finally looked up to get another look at the group, only to see the Alpha staring blankly at her. Her nostrils flared once, twice before her eyes narrowed. She recognized the omega before her. She made a move like she was going to approach said omega.

Yeah, Jill didn't really know how to deal with that. She waved quickly, turned on her heel, and began speed walking towards the exit of the mall. And maybe that speed walk turned into light sprint when she heard someone call _Hey!_ behind her. And maybe she continued sprinting past the doors until she was halfway through the parking lot. And even when her stride turned more casual on her way home, maybe her mind was still whirring at that same hectic pace.

Would it matter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so life's been crazy shitty wild for a couple of months now, and between successfully and poorly handling situations i've decided that instead of abandoning things i enjoy doing (i.e. wRITING) i'm gonna focus on them and throw myself into them when i get the first chance. i apologize for taking so long and that the end of this is so rushed but i have big plans for this fic and i just wanna fast forward to the fun stuff (FUN AS IN SEXY AND CONSENSUAL OF COUrse ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ )


End file.
